Best Buds

Ellie's friend Ethan went on vacation for a few days and they really missed each other. We see each other all the time since we are neighbors and Ethan and Ellie love to play together and give each other squeezies. We met up at the park when they got home. They were so excited to see each other. They gave each other squeezies and reached out to hold hands. When we got home and told Daddy he told Ellie she better slow it down, no holding hands so young :) I have to say it is so cute to see the two of them play together and love on each other, they are great friends.

Playground Fun

This year the playground is a whole new experience. Ellie climbs on anything and loves to slide. She can slide all by herself now so our playground time is more about what Ellie can do instead of what Mommy takes Ellie on :) She is having a great time and is growing up fast!

Water Girl

Summer is here (at least the heat makes it feel that way)!! It has been hot and we have been trying to stay cool in whatever water we can find. We went to the pool a few weeks ago at our friend Lindsay's house. We had a great time and Ellie warmed up to the water until she went under, but Mommy and Lindsay got great girl time too! We also got Ellie a little pool for the backyard. She loves playing in the hose and the little pool. I moved to Florida when I was 4 and grew up swimming and going to the beach all the time. I loved the water when I was little so I am hoping Ellie develops a love for it too!

Tennessee Adventures

Back in March we went to visit my family in Tennessee. Ellie did a great travel job. She read lots of books and on the way home was so tired and did lots of sleeping. We had a great time visiting family, exploring, meeting new friends and seeing my grandparents great newly remodeled home. We even got to play Wii at my parent's house (Ellie did a little Just Dance 2 with me). It was a quick trip but relaxing as usual. Ellie was the star of the show as always and met some new friends, Riley and Xavier, and made a new special friend, Brittany, who she loved giving squeezies to. We did lots of playing with Nana and PopPop and got to go to The Spaghetti Factory. We can't wait to go back in August and get to see everyone again!

Family Photo Shoot

We were blessed this past weekend to have our picture taken by our new friend, Chad, from church. He recently started a photography business that he pursues on the weekends. He is extremely talented and extremely reasonable. If you are looking for family photos and live in Charlotte he is the one to call! Here are a few of our pictures. Ellie screamed the whole time we took the beginning shots in the meadow and would not let go of her comb. Chad did an awesome job of getting amazing shots through all that! We are so pleased to have these amazing shots of our family at this stage of our lives and are so grateful for the amazing and healthy family God has given us! Out of over 125 photos I tried to limit myself to just a few on the blog :)

Ellie's First Piggy Tails

We have entered the world of styling hair. Ellie has had a bow in her hair for a while and we have now started doing pig tails a little. Her hair is a challenge, but cute at the same time!

Mother's Day 2011

I had another great Mother's Day. Ellie and I spent the morning together, since it falls on a Sunday Ben is hard at work, but is always home at lunch for us to spend the rest of the afternoon together as a family. Ellie and I went on our usual walk and then played outside and gardened. Ben then brought home some beautiful purple hanging plants for the front porch and wonderful strawberries. Ellie and Ben also gave me great cards and we finished the day with our annual Ellie and Mommy pictures and a great dinner downtown. It was a wonderful Mother's Day and I am so blessed to have a beautiful little girl and a loving husband to share it with!

Gardening

Ellie got a shovel, rake and seeds to plant from Nana and PopPop (my parents) for Easter. So on Mother's Day we got to work planting them and can't wait to see them pop up!

Easter 2011

We had a great Easter this year! We decorated eggs and made Easter cookies! Ben's parents also came down for the day and were able to enjoy Ellie hunting eggs for the first time and celebrating with us at our church's service at Verizon Ampitheater. I also sewed Ellie an Easter basket to use every year. Thanks to Ben's friend, Sarah, and her awesome Create website I was able to succeed at my hardest sewing project yet. I am new to the world of sewing, but am really enjoying it and can't wait to get started on my next project for Ellie! We had a great day and are looking forward to next year when we will be able to explain to Ellie what Easter is about and she will be able to understand why we celebrate it.

Enjoying the Outdoors

Ellie loves being outside and Maggie is teaching her some new tricks, like how to hide in the bushes!!

A Day with the Tulips

I love tulips! That is actually an understatement. I wanted to get married in March because it is prime tulip time and I wanted tulips at my wedding. Ben buys me tulips for every special occasion. When I was younger, about 3, my mom took my picture in a bed of tulips with me sitting in the middle of them and I think that began my love for them. Last spring Ben and I found a great garden that planted tons of tulips, unfortunately we got there when the season was over, so this year we made it a point to take Ellie there and get some great pictures. Ben was in charge of taking pictures and he went crazy, maybe he has developed a love for tulips as well. :) He took a total of 97 photos, so here is just a small sampling!

Craft Time

Ellie loves to do projects. This day it was all about coloring. She loves to color, especially in the bathtub. Here are her artistic abilities at work!